VANCOUVER – It was a battle to begin the Canada West regular season, as the UBC Thunderbirds were outlasted 100-87 by the UNBC Timberwolves in their home opener inside War Memorial Gym. After a tight first quarter, the T-Birds had a one-possession lead at the half but came up short in a second half that saw the visitors score 13 points off of turnovers.
"I'm really proud of the guys coming in here with so much history in this gym," said UNBC head coach Todd Jordan after the Timberwolves improved to 2-1 on the Canada West regular season. "We're still a relatively young program and this is the first time we've ever beat UBC. I'm just happy with how they played. I thought the guys really stuck with it and stayed solid. We didn't get on the roller coaster…if we made a mistake, we just stayed level. Then, we had a stretch where we pulled away because we executed against their pressure. That was kind of the big difference, and they were chasing for the rest of the game."
James Woods led the T-Birds with 26 points and shot 52.4 percent from the field,
Triston Matthews had 23 points with seven rebounds and four steals, and
Brian Wallack added 19 points and six boards on the night.
Before tip-off UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson was honoured for another remarkable milestone in his storied career, as the veteran coach record his five hundredth career U SPORTS win just last month. The two-time U SPORTS coach of the year is the current leader in U SPORTS wins among current coaches across the country and occupies fifth place on the all-time U SPORTS wins list - just six behind Jerry Hemmings in fourth spot.
UNBC had five players in double-digits in scoring, as Micah Jesse had a team-high 22 points with seven rebounds and five assists, while Darren Hunter put up 19 points with five assists in the win.
The 'Birds jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first, but the Timberwolves regrouped and rattled off a 10-0 run for a 17-12 edge. The Thunderbirds responded as Matthews went three-for-five from beyond the arc with 11 points in the quarter and UBC led 19-17 after one.
Jack Cruz-Dumont scored a triple for a 26-24 lead in the second before Woods drained back-to-back threes at 32-27 UBC. Wallack earned a tough spinning finish at the rim to give the 'Birds a ten-point cushion at 41-31, but the visitors kept pace and capitalized on turnovers to make it a one-possession game at the half with the Thunderbirds up 43-40.
Woods connected from deep early in the third before Jesse evened it at 46-46 with a hoop and the harm, and Fareed Shittu punctuated the UNBC lead with a dunk at 53-46. Captain Chris Ross made it a ten-point game on a triple for the Timberwolves until Matthews stopped the run with a pull-up trey at 62-53. Shittu threw down another dunk with time winding down in the third as UNBC led 67-60 after three.
In the fourth, a Matthews three brought UBC within five, but the Timberwolves continued to counter, and Hunter knocked down a triple for an 80-70 lead midway through the quarter. On the next trip down the floor, Sukhman Sandhu came up with a big block then drained three free throws on the other end to spark the 'Birds at 80-73. UNBC maintained their lead through the tense final minutes of play that saw big men Ledoux and Sandhu both foul out and, despite Woods taking it to the rack for the T-Birds at 89-81, the visitors continued to execute and held on for the win.
UBC and UNBC will square off on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. (PT) in a rematch at War Memorial Gym with the Thunderbirds gunning for their first win of the season on opening weekend.
